Botanical Garden orchid collection is brought back from the brink after Hurricane Katrina

Orchids aren't the prissy, particular plants that they're often believed to be, but like any living thing, they have basic needs if they are to survive. So when brackish waters unleashed by Hurricane Katrina levee failures filled the New Orleans Botanical Garden's greenhouses and Conservatory, and storm-associated power outages disabled watering and ventilation systems, even the hardiest of orchids succumbed to the hostile conditions.

Within a week or two, the garden's orchid collection dwindled to a handful of specimens.

Now, thanks to volunteer Richard Bergeron and his dedicated colleagues, the orchid collection has been reborn, growing from a handful rescued by orchid lovers after the storm to a thriving Conservatory exhibit of more than 100 specimens.

"And those are just the ones that we have on display," Bergeron said. "In the Pelican Greenhouse, we probably have about 800 more."

Frieda Palmgren works with Bergeron in the greenhouse to care for and cultivate the many varieties of orchids that have been donated, purchased and propagated in the scant two years since Bergeron -- at the request of the garden staff -- focused his energies on rebuilding the orchid collection.

"In the beginning, I walked around nurseries and places with a pad in my hand and wrote down the names of orchids, so that when I got home I could research them and find out about them," Bergeron said. "I keep all that information in my head, but Frieda, she takes notes. She keeps me in line."

Natural display

Together, Bergeron and Palmgren, members of the New Orleans Orchid Society, have not only developed an immense collection, but also revolutionized how specimens are displayed for visitors to the "Rain Forest" in the garden's Conservatory.

"What we're trying to do is to present orchids in a way that simulates how they grow in the wild," Bergeron said. "Most of us won't ever go to Peru or Costa Rica or the Philippines or Indonesia, so we won't ever get the chance to see orchids growing in their native habitats. So that's why it's important that we do it as best we can."

Gone are the days when the Botanical Garden orchid exhibit consisted of tiered tables stacked with blooming orchids in clay pots.

Now, the Rain Forest exhibit features Vanda orchids suspended from tree limbs, their bare roots cascading down as they would from the tree tops in their native environments. Phalaenopsis grow from the sides of fig branches, extending out horizontally because they grow that way in nature in order to avoid having water collect in their crowns.

Tiny terrestrial orchids -- the sole type prized for its foliage rather than its bloom -- hover close to the ground, shaded by the leaves of other vegetation. And vanilla -- an orchid that grows like a vine -- climbs up the trunk of a tree.

"I asked Frieda to count how many we have in here one day, and she stopped when she got to a hundred," Bergeron said.

1,000 orchids

It takes careful attention to see all but the spectacular blooming orchids that hang near the entrance to the exhibit and are displayed in the Bamboo Hut to the left of the entry.

But careful observation reveals orchids hugging rocks above the waterfall, attached to cypress bark and spreading out roots over hunks of wood, many of which Bergeron says he "scrounges" from his walks in the park.

"I had never mounted an orchid before, but all it takes is a little trial and error," he explained. "You have to tie them on to the bark at first, and then after a while, the roots start spreading and attaching. Once the roots take off, they start binding to the bark, and you're on your way."

With nearly 1,000 orchids housed in the Pelican Greenhouse, Bergeron and Palmgren can pick and choose which ones they put on display in the Rain Forest exhibit and when.

"There is always something blooming -- some bloom several times a year -- so we swap those in for ones that aren't blooming anymore," Bergeron said. "That means some of the orchids rotate through, but others stay in the Conservatory all the time."

Bergeron devotes about three hours a day, five days a week to the orchids and is joined by Palmgren on Fridays. The New Orleans Orchid Society will host a booth at the Fall Garden Festival at the Botanical Garden this weekend.

"We want people to come with their questions," Bergeron said. "We want them not to be afraid to try to grow orchids."

Growing diversity

Bergeron's efforts to re-establish the orchid collection have been so successful that he envisions being able to sell orchids at upcoming Pelican Greenhouse sales.

"We now have more than four times the number of orchids than we did before Hurricane Katrina," he said. "I never imagined that the collection would expand so fast in just two years. If we want to make room for more varieties, we need to sell some that we have multiples of."

With 20,000 varieties of orchids in the wild, Bergeron and Palmgren realize that their expansive collection represents only a tiny sliver of the diversity of the orchid kingdom.

"We will never even approach having a specimen of every kind, if for no other reason than that there are orchid habitats that we could never successfully reproduce here in the greenhouses or Conservatory," he said. "But that won't stop us from diversifying as much as we can."

To do so, Bergeron realizes that he might need more greenhouse space and that his orchid display will need to commandeer more of the Rain Forest exhibit than it is now allotted.

"It seems like we have a lot more staghorn ferns on the right side of the exhibit now than we really need, and they take up a lot of room," he calculated. "We relocate some of them, and we have plenty of space for more orchids."

TICKETS: $8 adults, $4 children 5-12; children younger than 5 and Friends of City Park, free; available at neworleanscitypark.com

INFORMATION: 504.483.9386

Orchids in the Conservatory

Sept. 29 and 30, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Orchid society members will be available in the Conservatory to show off the New Orleans Botanical Garden's beautiful orchid collection and answer any questions about orchids. If you miss the times above, stop by their booth in the sales tent.